Hello! With the Steam Deck being recently announced, we at DroiX felt it would be of interest to provide a comparison between these two hot-topic gaming handhelds. Whether you’re looking to upgrade your current gaming setup, or are simply curious about how the two stack up, we hope you find this comparison of the GPD Win 3 vs the Steam Deck useful!
What is the GPD Win 3?
The GPD Win 3 is a recently released gaming handheld that is powered by an 11th generation Intel processor.
It was successfully crowdfunded in March of this year, and after some time, has now released, with both the i5 and i7 Win 3 being available to buy in the UK and Worldwide from DroiX and other retailers.
The GPD Win 3’s claim to fame is being a handheld that can comfortably play AAA games (many at 60FPS). Surprisingly, it can play AAA games with little-to-no issue, at high framerates too!
At the moment, the GPD Win 3 is also currently the only handheld gaming PC to feature a built-in keyboard. Hidden behind the display (which you can slide up) is a backlit, capacitive touch keyboard. Making it easier to enter credentials in games and when browsing the web.
What is the Steam Deck?
The Steam Deck is a recently announced gaming handheld. While not the first gaming handheld on the market, the Steam Deck is extremely notable due to it’s high-profile origins (coming from Valve – owners of what many consider to be the face of modern PC gaming – Steam).
Valve have had a mixed history when it comes to hardware distribution. On one hand, you have their highly successful VR headset, the Valve Index. On the other hand, you have their various failures such as the ill-received Steam Machines and now discontinued Steam Controller. So it’s really anybody’s guess as to how the Steam Deck will perform in the long run.
Much like the Win 3, the Steam Deck’s claim to fame is also being able to run AAA games. Without any real benchmarks out in the wild at the time of writing however, it’s difficult to say how well it will be perform.
The minimum targeted framerate for most games on the Steam Deck is 30FPS. But many games will apparently run higher than that.
GPD Win 3 vs Steam Deck – A Technical Specification Comparison
We’ve compiled a collection of specs for the GPD Win 3 vs the Steam Deck in the below table. If we’ve missed anything, please feel free to comment!
| Category | GPD Win 3 | Steam Deck |
|---|---|---|
| Processor | Intel Core i5 1135G7 (Quad-core, 2.4-4.2GHz) Intel Core i7 1165G7 )Quad-core, 2.8-4.7GHz) | Custom AMD Zen 2 APU (Quad-core, 2.4-3.5GHz) |
| Graphics | Intel Iris Xe Graphics | Custom RDNA 2 Graphics |
| RAM | 16GB LPDDR4x (@4266MHz) | 16GB LPDDR5 (@5500MT/s) |
| Storage Options | 1TB M.2 NVMe | 64GB eMMC 256GB M.2 NVMe 512GB M.2 NVMe |
| Storage Expansion | microSD M.2 NVME | microSD M.2 NVMe |
| Screen | Touch-enabled 5.5 Inches 1280x720p (16:9) IPS | Touch-enabled 7 Inches 1280x800p (16:10) IPS |
| Wi-Fi | IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax (WiFi 6) | IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (WiFi 5) |
| Bluetooth | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| Controls | A B X Y buttons D-pad L & R analog triggers L & R bumpers 2x Assignable grip buttons 2x analog sticks; clickable (L3/R3) Start & Select buttons Xbox Guide button | A B X Y buttons D-pad L & R analog triggers L & R bumpers View & Menu buttons 4x assignable grip buttons 2x capacitive touch analog sticks; clickable (L3/R3) 2x trackpads |
| Ports | 1x USB Type-C (Thunderbolt 4) 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A 1x 3.5mm headphone jack | 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C (w/ DP 1.4 Alt-mode) 1x 3.5mm headphone jack. |
| Other Features | Fingerprint sensor Built-in rumble Capacitive touch keyboard Controller/Mouse Mode Toggle Switch eGPU Compatible Docking Station Compatible | Gyroscope Ambient light sensor Stereo microphone Built-in rumble Docking Station Compatible |
| Battery | ~45Whr; approx. 3-8 hours of gameplay | ~40Whr; approx. 2-8 hours of gameplay |
| Size | 198mm x 92mm x 27mm | 298mm x 117mm x 49mm |
| Weight | ~550g | ~669g |
| Price | £869.95 £989.98 | £349.00 £459.00 £569.00 |
GPD Win 3 vs Steam Deck – Which is better?
On the matter of the GPD Win 3 vs the Steam Deck, it is difficult to say which one is better. It ultimately depends on your use case.
The GPD Win 3 is a released, finalized handheld gaming console. With many performance benchmarks you can currently check out all across Youtube, and just reviews for the GPD Win 3 in general, it’s easier to get an idea of what you’re getting into.
Meanwhile the Steam deck has no real production models out in the wild as of now. Only Steam Deck prototypes exist. Coupled with the fact that the Steam Deck uses a custom APU instead of an already existing model, there is not even a real-world reference that we can extrapolate data from.
Overall, while more expensive, we’d believe the Win 3 to be the more powerful high-end option for handheld gaming. Unless Valve are selling the Steam Deck at a loss, it is unlikely that they’ll be able to outperform the Win 3 at the given price points.
The GPD Win 3 also has the advantage of being compatible with external GPUs, meaning it can function as a fully-fledged gaming PC in its own right.
As a note, both models are compatible with docking stations – which noticeably increase the device’s connectivity. The GPD Win 3’s docking station can be purchased here.
When is the Steam Deck being released?
The current ETA for the Steam Deck depends on when you were able to snatch up a pre-order, and on the model you’ve chosen!
Early reservations can expect for shipping to begin in December 2021. However, due to extremely high demand, if you try to place an order now (as of 27/07/2021), the expected availability for the Steam Deck is currently after Q2 2022. So if you place an order right this moment, you probably won’t be seeing your unit for around a year at the earliest.
If you can’t wait for an AAA handheld gaming experience, we’d recommend going for the GPD Win 3 which you can purchase here, as well as browse other gaming handhelds.
